As pervasive and vital as they are in human experience, emotions have long remained an enigma to science. This monograph explores recent scientific advances that clarify central controversies in the study of emotion, including the relationship between intellect and emotion, and the historical debate on the source of emotional experience. Particular attention is given to the intriguing body of research illuminating the critical role of ascending input from the body to the brain in the generation and perception of emotions. This discussion culminates in the presentation of a systems-oriented model of emotion in which the brain functions as a complex pattern-matching system, continually processing input from both the external and internal environments. From this perspective it is shown that the heart is a key component of the emotional system, thus providing a physiological basis for the long-acknowledged link between the heart and our emotional life.

No service, no worries: Walk phone-free to improve your mental health. Daily Dose Good news: More than 145 million adults are walking to stay active and healthy, and to live longer! When you head out for a walk, however, do yourself a favor and leave your mobile phone at home — for your safety and serenity. Using a mobile phone while walking reduces your awareness of what’s going on around you, putting you at greater risk for accidents (collisions with bikers aren’t pretty!) and crime. Instead, use your walking time to relax your body and mind. Walking becomes a moving meditation when combined with mindful awareness: As you walk, direct your attention to the process of walking — feeling each step, breath, and other physical sensations. Paying attention in this way to your body’s experience of walking allows you to connect with the present moment. When you’re feeling mentally exhausted, just say ‘no’ to more time on Facebook, and take a walk instead! The sights and sounds of nature can be especially beneficial for your mind, improving your focus and memory. (That mental sharpness will come in handy at your 4 pm meeting with your boss!) Walking meditation can be just as profound as sitting meditation (plus you get the added benefits of moving more). The truth is, feeling calmer and more relaxed is a walk in the park when you’ve got the right mindset.

You may also want to know:

5 great reasons to walk

Here is the easiest way to strengthen your most important relationships: Put your phone away.

Look and feel great in stylish workout wear

The trick to finding serenity on your next walk 3 Moves to Get You Ready for Walking Judi Bar, E-RYT 500, Yoga Therapist As the weather warms up, our legs start itching to get outside. But before you rush out the door, try these simple yoga-inspired moves to warm up your body and avoid injury. Moving Breath: Begin by … Read more

Before I practiced medicine at my Wellness Center, I was a sports physiology educator. So I know first-hand the value of a sound mind in a sound body. In fact, my “whole-body, whole-mind” approach led me to study anti-aging in depth, which as you know has become my main areas of specialization. In fact, I was one of the first physicians in the country to be certified as an anti-aging specialist. While advising a gymnastics team back in those early days, I often found myself dealing with the mental states of athletes. And that’s when I really discovered the power of meditation. I taught many of these gymnasts how to meditate so they wouldn’t choke in close matches. The mind-body connection has always fascinated me. But, at the time, I had no idea these mental exercises could actually help them lead longer, healthier lives. Beyond a certain level, the differences between the athletes’ physical abilities become unimportant. Any scratch golfer or competitive tennis player will tell you that. What really makes the difference is always the mind – or, more precisely, mental focus. Meditation has the power to calm nerves, relieve stress, focus on victory – and also to extend lives. Decades later, I began offering free meditation lessons to the patients at my wellness clinic in South Florida. Over time, I saw that the patients who meditated seemed to thrive. They were also happier, healthier and younger in body and spirit. Recently, I came across some studies that back up my observations. These studies prove that you can slow your aging by using your thoughts and emotions to influence your chromosomes. This mind-body connection remains a cornerstone of my anti-aging philosophy. You see, the modern world overloads our brains. Will I catch the flu? Will I wreck my car? Will the stock market fall? I haven’t heard from my children or grandchildren in days… are they all right? Will terrorists attack? Stress is killing us and science proves it. Stress creates a hormone in our bodies called cortisol. A little cortisol can help us deal with life’s ups and downs. But a steady stream of it is toxic. It makes people eat too much and pack on too many pounds.1 It also triggers insulin resistance, which can lead to diabetes.2 And it can cause mental problems, like anxiety and depression.3,4 But as an anti-aging specialist, I was most interested to find that too much cortisol also shortens telomeres,5 the caps at the end of each strand of DNA in all living creatures. Cortisol sabotages telomerase, the enzyme that rebuilds your telomeres. That’s where meditation comes in. You’ve got to banish the stress from your mind and your body for at least 10 minutes every day. The new studies confirm how meditation benefits telomeres by keeping them from getting shorter. And it can help them grow longer. In other words, meditation can prevent your cells from aging and it can even make them younger. Recently, researchers tracked 88 breast cancer patients.6, 7 One set of women practiced meditation for eight weeks and their telomeres grew significantly longer. The other group of women got a six-week stress-management course – and their telomeres didn’t grow. Another team of researchers followed 142 breast-cancer patients for 12 weeks. And telomerase activity skyrocketed by 17 percent among the patients who meditated. But telomerase activity stalled at three percent in the patients who didn’t use the power of their minds.8 In a similar experiment, psychiatrists studied people who were stressed over caring for loved ones with dementia. Some of the care-givers were taught Hindu-style yogic meditation. Some care-givers only took breaks to listen to relaxing music. Listening to music barely budged the care-givers’ telomerase activity, but meditation sent it skyrocketing by 43 percent.9 Harvard Medical School psychiatrists looked at telomeres from people who regularly practice a Buddhist-style of meditation. The meditators had significantly longer telomeres than people who didn’t meditate. Plus, the study found that meditation benefited women most of all.10 So, here’s a simple-but-effective, 10-step meditation technique I teach my patients. I call it the “box-step,” even though you do it sitting down:

1. Get in a comfortable sitting position and start by focusing only on the moment. Banish all thoughts of the past or the future.

1. At first, do the breathing exercises for two minutes a day. But make them as mindfully perfect as possible..

1. Each week, add two minutes to your mindful meditation. When you’ve mastered mindful breathing for 10 minutes, you’re ready to move on to the box-step.

1. Like before, you’re going to start with two-minute sessions every day for a week. Then increase the daily sessions for each week by two minutes until you reach 10 minutes.

1. Now point your index finger at chest height as if you’re going to draw with it. Then use your finger to slowly outline the shape of a box. This imaginary box will help you focus.

1. Once you have mastered this imaginary box, you’re ready. Take a long, slow, deep breath while making the top horizontal stroke of the box. Hold your breath at the corner for two seconds. Then exhale slowly on the down stroke.

1. Inhale slowly while tracing the lines of the box back. Exhale at each corner and repeat the process two or three times.

1. Now put down your hand and relax. Close your eyes and visualize the box floating in front of you. Keep your mind in the moment.

1. Mentally trace the same path along the box’s edges while you perform the same breathing exercises. Forget the past and the future. Focus only on now.

This is a great way to clear your head after hard day at work. Or it could calm you before you give a wedding toast. To Your Good Health,

]]>https://relaxforsurvival.org/2015/03/designing-your-life-for-spaciousness-ram-dass/feed/048Less is a lot Morehttps://relaxforsurvival.org/2015/03/less-is-a-lot-more/ https://relaxforsurvival.org/2015/03/less-is-a-lot-more/#respondSun, 01 Mar 2015 16:21:18 +0000http://relaxforsurvival.org/?p=42Meditation helps other parts of your life become more simple.

As you enter quieter spaces you will see how clinging to desires has made your life complicated. Your clinging drags you from desire to desire, whim to whim, creating more and more complex entanglements. Meditation helps you cut through this clinging. If, for example, you run around filling your mind with this and that, you will discover that your entire meditation is spent in letting go of the stuff you just finished collecting in the past few hours. You also notice that your meditations are clearer when you come into them from a simpler space. This encourages you to simplify your life. Continue Reading: http://goo.gl/uGVgaO ]]>https://relaxforsurvival.org/2015/03/less-is-a-lot-more/feed/042Here and Nowhttps://relaxforsurvival.org/2015/02/here-and-now/ https://relaxforsurvival.org/2015/02/here-and-now/#respondMon, 23 Feb 2015 14:06:31 +0000http://relaxforsurvival.org/?p=39

Ask yourself: Where am I? Answer: Here. Ask yourself: What time is it? Answer: Now. Say it until you can hear it.

Set alarm clocks or design your day or put up notes on the wall so that a number of times during the day when you are in the midst of various occupations you confront yourself with the questions: (a) Where Am I? and then answer (see answer below) (b) What time is it? and then answer (see answer below)

Each time you do this, try to feel the immediacy of the Here and Now. Begin to notice that wherever you go or whatever time it is by the clock . . . it is ALWAYS HERE AND NOW. In fact you will begin to see that you can’t get away from the HERE and NOW. Let the clock and the earth do their ‘thing’ . . . let the comings and goings of life continue . . . But YOU stay HERE and NOW. This is an exercise to bring you to the ETERNAL PRESENT . . . where it all is.

For specific periods of time focus your thoughts in the present.

DON’T THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE. JUST BE HERE NOW. DON’T THINK ABOUT THE PAST. JUST BE HERE NOW.

Reflect on the thought that if you are truly Here and Now (a) it is ENOUGH, and (b) you will have optimum power and understanding to do the best thing at the given moment. Thus when ‘then’ (the future) becomes Now — if you have learned this discipline — you will then be in an ideal position to do the best thing. So you need not spend your time now worrying about then.

Reflect on the fact that you can plan the future in the Here and Now as long as when then is Now . . . you are fully Here and Now. Seem paradoxical? Of course! Keep reflecting!